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About this project

The Skinny

Hello, I’m Ryan Hainsworth, owner and operator
of TheZombieJournals.net, a website devoted to creating an expansive, post-zombie universe.
Using multiple forms of media (written stories, podcasts, and film) my goal is
to submerge an audience in a unique storytelling experience. Recently, my
production crew, Digital Fingerprint, decided that we needed to secure funding
if we were to make films with high production value. This is why we turned to
Kickstarter. This project consists of two short films: Kristi and Solitude
(working titles).

Breakdown of the Films

Kristi is set on a college campus. After running from a small horde of zombie's, Kristi locks herself in a vault, behind a heavy steel door. She only has her phone, and a social media app called Face Time to try and contact her boyfriend. She has a hard time finding him until she discovers her fate through his dorm room webcam. She tries to send an audio message through Face Time before the battery on her smartphone dies; a desperate act for a desperate situation.

Solitude is about one man barricaded in an apartment. Through the use of non-linear storytelling we see him meet the group he travels with and each of their fall to the zombies. After developing feelings for one particular girl, we see their relationship develop until she ultimately becomes another victim.

Both these stories are character driven unlike most zombie films that are based on advancing the plot and action. Character development, emotionally charged drama as well as all the action you crave in a zombie movie is the goal. It's not just mindless headshot after headshot, but there are plenty of headshots for the average zombie lover.

Digital Fingerprint

Film Crew

I've assembled a team of highly talented zombie film buffs to bring my video goals to fruition. Kyle Hecht is at the helm as Writer/Producer/Director, Josh Carlascio as Director of Photography/Camera Operator, and John Cobb as Editor/Video Effects Supervisor. All three of these filmmakers have a lot of experience as well as a film education from Columbia College Chicago.

Makeup

LoriAnn Carducci will lead a team of five makeup artists for this project.
A high level of realism in everything (especially the zombies) will be
accomplished via professional grade prostheses and Hollywood grade makeup.

Schedule

We are currently in the development phase. Both scripts are being rewritten. They will be revised until they are highly polished and we are satisfied with them.

When we hit our budget pre-production will begin. That is when we will scout and decide our locations, hold our casting sessions, begin rehearsal, design the visual look including lighting, visual effects and make-up. This is also when we'll begin our video updates for backers.

Mid-July we start production. This is when everything comes together and shooting begins. Since time is money every minute is tightly scheduled to make sure everything we want in the film gets in the film exactly the way we want it.

Post production follows. Every frame we shoot will get scrutinized to find the best take to use in each scene. Those scenes are then edited together, and any necessary digital effects are created and blended so everything looks seamless.

When the video is done, or "locked", we build the audio soundtrack. Voice, sound effects, and music all get weaved together to raise the level of drama of the films.

Updates

Alongside the
production of these two short films, we will have guerilla-style updates, giving
you the latest news on our production. These will be segments shot via
secondary camera, and will be “behind the scenes” rough cuts of all of our
production phases. These updates are exclusive to Kickstarter backers.

Rewards

We have tried to offer you the best rewards we could think of; DVDs, autographed photos, and posters are being offered at various levels. For those that want to contribute more, we are offering a personalized zombie portrait of you, by our art department. There are no limits to most of our awards, because the more funding we have, the better the films will be.

Thanks

We from TheZombieJournals.net and Digital Fingerprint want to thank you for your consideration and time. Please check out the website and follow us in our journey to make a submersive zombie universe.

FAQ

Have a question?
If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.